


Stages

by ImOutOfMyVulcanMind (LoopyLu94)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Discussion of sexual harrassment, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, He's great all the way through, If You Squint - Freeform, Kinda, Men in power being dicks, Not Tony though, Sexism, Tony being in awe, Tony loving his super smart gf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 13:50:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19297039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoopyLu94/pseuds/ImOutOfMyVulcanMind
Summary: It’s been a month since you left your job at Stark Industries, and you expected nothing more than to only ever hear news about it from then on. Until one night Tony Stark himself shows up at your door, saying he needs your help.





	Stages

**Author's Note:**

> My first Tony fic ahhhhh! I really hope you guys enjoy it, and please let me know what you think! I already have another one-shot idea, so feedback will help me know if you want it! :)

It had been a month since you’d officially left your job at Stark Industries. A whole month and you still missed it and the work you did there, low level as you were. But staying there hadn’t been a possibility either.

It had started a few months before. One of your coworkers in your lab decided he fancied you and refused to accept you didn’t like him in return. It hadn’t been too bad at first, annoying but not that bad. Mostly just him asking you out every few days, a few inappropriate comments about your looks here and there, but not enough for you to want to raise any issues. But then your lab threw a party for another colleague’s birthday, complete with alcohol.

He’d had too much and followed you into the bathroom. Cornering you in one of the stalls, he’d refused to move or stop with the remarks about how much he wanted you and how tired he was off waiting.

Nothing happened in the end. Someone else came in and spooked him away. But it was more than you could handle. More than you should have had to handle. So you’d filed a complaint with your supervisor. Who promptly dismissed it since he hadn’t actually done anything.

You took it higher again to the floor manager. He called you in for a meeting, and later that day you handed in your resignation. He’d been even worse than the others, and any thoughts about going higher again disappeared. It wasn’t worth the stress or the shitty way it made you feel.

You’d worked your notice and left.

Now you just needed to find a new job. Which was surprisingly harder than you’d anticipated. Most hadn’t even called you back. Why you didn’t know. You were plenty qualified, and it was hard to get better previous experience than working at Stark Industries.

Sprawled on the sofa in your apartment, you scrolled through potential jobs on your tablet. The savings in your bank were starting to dwindle, and you were faced with the choice of looking for a lesser job or leaving New York altogether. You didn’t want either. You’d worked hard to get to New York, but you didn’t want to get stuck at a job you hated either.

A knock on your door startled you from your miserable dwelling. You were tempted to ignore it, but then the person on the other side knocked again, and curiosity got the better of you. Who would come knocking at eight on a Thursday night?

Apparently Tony fucking Stark would.

“Y/N Y/L/N?” He asked, pocketing his sunglasses once you opened the door.

For an MIT graduate with two doctorates to your name, it took your brain an embarrassingly long time time to process what was going on and form actual words. “Uhh…yeah. Yes. Sir.”

“Great! Need to talk to you. May I?” Stark gestured to the inside of your apartment.

You nodded dumbly, stepping aside to let him in. “C-can I get you something to drink, sir?”

“No, thanks. I can’t stay too long,” he said, taking a look around him. It was the first time you’d really realized what a mess the whole place was. There were pieces of paper with notes and calculations for random things pinned up everywhere, covering most of the wall space. Then there were the couple of take-out cartons you hadn’t gotten around to recycling yet, and the pile of thankfully clean laundry, that was stacked on a chair waiting to get put away. Stark didn’t seem bothered by any of it though, but then he seemed more focused on the papers anyway.

“I’ll get to the point,” he said, turning to face you again. “You left my company and I’m here to get you back.”

There’d been no time to really consider why he was here, but you knew for certain that wouldn’t have even made the list. “You want me back?”

“Yep.” Stark pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped a couple buttons before showing you the screen. You recognized the blueprint on it immediately. “Your design right?”

“Yes, sir. I submitted it just before I left.”

“It’s good. Amazing, really. I was stunned when I came across it. A little embarrassed I hadn’t thought to use Iron Man tech like that, but that’s just between you and me.” Stark winked at you, switching off the screen again. “I made it a research priority, something like this needs to be out there, but no one’s been able to figure out how to fit that amount of tech into something so small. I’ve had some ideas, but none have looked promising for long term viability.”

“And you want to know if I know how to do it?”

“Do you?”

“In theory. I’ve not run any simulations.”

Stark nodded. “Theory is more than anyone else has come up with. Next question, what’ll it take for you to come back? More money? Apartment upgrade? Name it.”

“Sir…I didn’t leave because I wasn’t earning enough, or anything like that.”

“Then why did you?”

You bit the inside of your cheek, wondering what you should say. Stark was being overwhelmingly complimentary, but that didn’t mean it’d stay that way. He was another man after all. “The people.”

“The people? Gonna have to elaborate there.”

“Probably be easier to pull the audio recording of Office 3A from February eighteenth. I was in a meeting with Pete and explained everything.” It was the best solution you could think of. You didn’t want to talk through everything again, and if he heard it himself at least he’d believe you.

“Okay. Jarvis, locate audio file of Peter Jamesons office on February eighteenth, 2019.” Stark spoke into his phone, which was pretty unexpected.

_Audio file found. Would you like to listen to the playback from a specific time?_

Stark looked towards you, holding the phone forwards in a gesture to speak.

“Uh, 1 pm?”

_Playing Office 3A audio from 1 pm_

You were expecting it, but it still gave you a shock when your own voice and that of Peter’s, the floor managers, started to speak from Starks phone.

Most of it was you retelling your story about the coworker and the bathroom, and then your supervisor’s dismissal of it.

_“What were you wearing?” Pete asked._

_“I’m sorry?”_

_“At the party, what were you wearing?”_

_“I…it was straight after work. It was similar to this.”_

_“Well, those pants are very form fitting. And that shirt could be revealing if you were to bend over enough.”_

_“Sir, are you saying I asked for it?”_

_“Not ask. But perhaps subconsciously you thought to invite it.”_

_“I can promise you that wasn’t the case.”_

_“Either way, you should’ve expected something like this to happen.”_

_“I…I should have?”_

_“You’re a woman and this is a male-dominated environment. Of course, you should’ve expected romantic advances.”_

_“That’s not appropriate.”_

_“The truth isn’t appropriate? Sweetheart, if you wanted to avoid this bother then you should’ve stayed at home. I’m sure you’d exceed phenomenally in a kitchen.”_

_“I’m exceeding here.”_

_“Are you? Or did you get the job because of some diversity laws?”_

_“I got the job because I was the top of all my classes, earned two PhDs in some of the most difficult subjects and am one of the best in my field!”_

_“No need to get emotional. I’m sure you’re plenty smart. Just not smart enough to understand the natural way of things.”_

_“I take this means you’re dismissing my complaint?”_

_“Doctor Grant did nothing wrong in my eyes, Ms. Y/L/N.”_

_“Fine. Then I want to take it higher.”_

_“Higher? I wouldn’t advise that.”_

_“Why?”_

_“The ones higher don’t like to be bothered with such trivial matters. They won’t be happy telling you the same thing you’ve been told twice already. Might not end well for you.”_

_“Are you suggesting I’ll be fired for reporting a case of harassment?”_

_“I’m not suggesting anything, Ms.”_

_“Okay. I’d thank you for your time, but I don’t want to. You’ll have my resignation by the end of the day.”_

“That’s it,” you said quietly when you heard the sound of a door closing, signaling that you left the office, and Jarvis stopped the recording.

Tony hadn’t spoken a word as you listened, but his face said enough. He was angry, quiet but furious.

Sir, would you like me to inform Miss. Potts over this issue?

“No. I’m going to deal with this personally. We’ll discuss it later, Jarvis.”

Yes, sir.

Stark tucked his phone away and looked back at you. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have had to deal with that.”

Crossing your arms over your chest, you shrugged. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. We’re meant to be making the world a better place, and we can’t do that if our own employees get away with this shit. It’s gonna be dealt with, I promise.*

"Thank you, sir.”

Stark waved his hand through the air. “Stop with the ‘sir’. It’s Tony.”

You smiled and nodded. “Tony.”

“Good.” Tony’s watch chimed and he muttered under his breath. “I need to go, but I’m not done with you or your work. I want you back working for me. With me. Are you free, say tomorrow night?”

“Yeah. Only thing I had planned was more job hunting.”

“Well, that’s unnecessary now. What do you say to coming over and talking final details? All totally professional of course.”

“That sounds great. I’d like that.”

“Awesome! I’ll send someone to get you around six?”

“Sure.”

Tony grinned, heading to the door before stopping and gesturing to all the papers on your walls. “Are all these for your blueprint?”

“Most. Some are just notes of other ideas. Easier to write them down and get them out of my head, y'know?”

“I do. Bring them with you. All of them. I want to know what else goes through that brilliant head of yours.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow.”

“See you.”

With that he was gone, leaving you wondering what the hell had really just happened. Tony Stark had been in your home, admitted the shit that was going on his own company, promised to fix it, then invited you to an informal business meeting. And what did he mean by working with him?

The only things you knew for sure were that you’d happily to return to work at Stark Industries in whatever capacity if you were taken seriously and that you were definitely excited for the next night.

~

The rest of your night was spent pulling down all your notes and trying to put them in some kind of order. By the time you’d actually made it your bed, it well into the early am, and by the time you woke up again, it was into the later am.

You were a modern, 21st-century woman, so of course, the first thing you did was grab your phone to check everything that was going on.

Stark Industries was trending.

Tony Stark himself had issued a statement barely an hour ago, stating that it had come to his attention that several members of staff were responsible for acts of gross misconduct. He went on to say that not only had said staff been removed from the company, an internal investigation was also being launched in order to root out any other bad seeds, and completely overhaul the way complaints and issues were raised and dealt with.

He’d said he was going to deal with it, but this, this you hadn’t expected. Not this fast and not at this scale. It was satisfying to know you’d finally been taken seriously.

It was a good way to start the day.

The time went by quick. Most of it was spent catching up on chores and doing a final sort through of your notes. By the time it came to get ready, you were surprisingly not nervous. You should’ve been, you thought. You were spending the evening with Tony Stark. It was just business, he said that himself, but it was still Tony Stark, and it was still one on one. Yet you weren’t. For whatever reason, you felt at ease around him, and the only thing you felt was excitement.

You kept your clothes to business casual, not wanting to overdo it, but not wanting to look like you didn’t care either.

Dead on six, there was a knock on your door, and sure enough, a driver was waiting to take you to Tony.

It wasn’t that long a ride before you were stepping inside his living space at Stark Tower.

_Welcome Dr. Y/L/N. Mr. Stark is currently downstairs in his lab, but he’ll be up momentarily. Please, take a seat and make yourself comfortable._

The voice nearly made you jump out of your skin. It was the same one that spoke out of Tony’s phone yesterday.

“Thanks,” you said, taking a moment to look around as you walked. “Who…who are you?’

_My name is Jarvis. A UI Mr. Stark created to run several aspects of his business and life. If I can be of assistance to you at any point, please do not hesitate to ask._

"Right, thank you.” You’d figured out you were talking to a computer, but it was still a shock to talk to one that came across so…human.

You walked into the main living area, setting your bag of notes down on the sofa. There was a pizza box sitting on the table, the brand familiar. It was the same name that was on the empty box in your kitchen yesterday. It wasn’t all that expensive though, so the chances of someone like Tony buying it himself were slim. Which meant he’d seen it and taken note.

It was a nice thought.

Wandering over to the window, you looked out across the city. It was dark by now, and the lights of New York were shining and twinkling below you.

“Not a bad view, huh?” Tony came up next to you, looking out the window too.

“It’s beautiful.”

“I agree.” Tony was looking at you as he spoke.

Turning away from the view, you faced him. “I saw what you did this morning. Thank you.”

“Nothing to thank. It needed to be done.” Tony raised an arm gesturing to the sofa. “Have a seat. Drink?”

“Sure. Sounds good.”

“Let me guess…Jack and coke?” Tony walked over the bar, already pulling out two tumblers.

“How did you know?” You sat on the sofa, retrieving your bag and starting to pull out some of your notes. It was surprising how natural it felt being here. It was more like hanging out with a friend than one of the worlds most famous mean who also happened to be fucking Iron Man.

“Lucky guess?” You raised an eyebrow and he laughed. “There was a bottle of Jack in the kitchen, and an empty can at the top of the trash. Educated guess then.”

“Observant. I like.”

“Count me flattered.” Tony brought the two glasses over and set them down onto the table next to the pizza box.

“You frequent tiny pizza places halfway across the city too or just another feat of observation?” You asked, picking up one of the glasses and taking a sip. It was good. Tony knew how to mix a drink.

“Point of tonight was to talk you back into working here, figured some creature comforts wouldn’t hurt my efforts.”

“Pretty sure it’s already safe to say I’ll come back.”

“Just because of some pizza and liquor? A woman after my own heart.”

Laughing, you matched his position, leaning against the back of the sofa. “That’s a part of it, yeah.”

Tony smiled, the look soft on his face. “But seriously, you okay? After everything.”

“I spent over a decade getting degrees from places filled with men thinking I shouldn’t be there. It’ll take more than a few dicks to get me. Not worth the time.”

“Beats me how they even got hired. We need more staff like you and me, geniuses, not their prehistoric butts.”

Geniuses. Plural. He thought you were on the same level. “Flattery will get you everywhere, Mr. Stark,” you said, putting on a fake posh voice, mainly to deflect how sincere he was being and how you were definitely not sure how to handle it.

Tony grinned, “Everywhere? You are exceptionally intriguing, Dr. Y/L/N.” He mimicked your accent, sounding like a terrible version of Jarvis.

The gentle moment successfully broken, you laughed again, grateful he’d taken the cue instead of pushing it. The compliment had been well received, for sure. In fact, you were pretty sure it was the best compliment you could ever be given. It was the quiet concern that had thrown you. He had been worried that you weren’t okay. It was both sweet and unexpected, though maybe it shouldn’t have been given the events of the morning.

Tony reached over and flipped the pizza box open, then motioned to the papers sitting next to you. “Shall we start?”

You nodded, figuring you’d begin with the very reason he’d asked you over. The blueprints you’d left behind in the lab that no one else could get working. It had been an idea you’d had for years, one that was never more than an idealistic fantasy until you’d started work at Stark Industries. You’d been browsing the blueprints of an older version of the Iron Man suit that Tony had released to the labs, and there staring right back at you was the technology you needed to make your idea become reality. Only problem was that you needed to figure out a way to scale it down to a fraction of the size. You’d worked on it every day you were allowed to pursue your own individual tech projects rather than focusing on one’s already established within the company.

You told Tony all about it, explained how exactly you were planning to shrink it down and fit it into the main tech itself. The breakthrough had come just days before you left, and there’d been no time to see if it’d work for certain, so you’d taken the notes home with you, just leaving the main design as the company.

“I can see why no one else came up with this. Even I’d need to focus on nothing but it to come up with these solutions.” Tony was reading through your notes, looking genuinely amazed. “Gotta ask though, why didn’t you take the design with you? Your ideas are your own until prototypes start getting made.”

You shrugged, “I hoped that leaving it in the databases would mean it’d get made one day. And that was all I wanted.”

“Commendable. A lot would’ve taken it and tried to make a quick buck.”

“They would. I just want to help people and that’s it.”

“And that’s what I want to do too. Which is why I want to give you your own lab, your own team, access to newer Iron Man tech, whatever you need to get this done.”

You’d been anticipating a promotion, but not to that level. You didn’t even know anyone who ran a lab dedicated to just one project. You’d heard of people who ran them, but those were scientists who’d been working for the company for years, the best of the best.

“Wow, I…I don’t even know what to say.”

“How about yes?”

“Yeah. Yes! Thank you.”

“Something like this needs to be out there, and I want us to be the one to do it. And I want you to be the one to spearhead it. With things like this I try to be a bit more involved though, so there’ll be more stuff like this. Catching up with what’s going on one on one.”

“I’m not opposed to that. Especially if there’s more pizza involved.”.

Tony threw his head back as he laughed. “I’ll add it into the contract.”

“In that case when do I start?”

“Monday work?”

“Perfect.”

“Excellent!” Tony clapped his hands together, then grabbed your now empty glasses and went to refill them. “To new adventures,” he toasted when he returned and passed you the glass back.

“To new adventures.”

“Feel like telling me what’s on the rest of the stuff you bought? Maybe we’ll find the next big thing for the future.”

“Doubtful,” you chuckled, picking up the notebook you used for general notes and ideas. “Most of the stuff in here is just random crap.”

“Hey, sometimes the best things from random crap. Humor me.”

“Well since it’s you and you did just offer me the job a lifetime.”

“Whoever said money can’t get you what you want?”

Rolling your eyes with a smile, you grabbed the book and started going through it. A lot of it really was junk, but some, some could maybe turn into something more. Especially if you stayed on in the long run.

You didn’t even realize how long you talked about some of the things for. Once you started, you found you couldn’t stop, especially when Tony didn’t immediately laugh you out of the tower. And it was nice, for once, to get to just talk about all the little things that had popped into your head over the years, rather than focusing on making others ideas a reality.

When you finally stopped, Tony was silent. Looking up from the book and over to him, you saw him watching you with what could only be described as the human version of the heart eye emoji.

“What?” You asked, laughing nervously.

“You really are a genius. This…this stuff, it’s incredible. I have no idea how your brain works to come up with some of this, but I love it.”

“Really? They’re nothing special.”

“They are! God, there are at least five things I can see being not only viable but exceptional, and two I definitely want to look into further because they could make great additions to the next Iron Man upgrade.”

“Oh. Figured I was going to be a one trick pony kinda girl, and the rest of time I’d just be backing people up. Group projects and all that stuff.”

Tony had been keeping a respectable distance, but then he slid across the soft material until he was closer to you. He let a hand rest on your forearm, giving you the chance to pull back if you wanted. When you didn’t, he smiled. “You’re incredible. I pulled your file Y/N. I’ve seen just how smart you are. You were the best person in that lab hands down, no one else even came close.”

You smiled. “Thanks. Maybe those dicks did get to me a little.”

“Screw 'em. If they ever see you again they’ll be calling you ma’ am and begging for some cash to fund some crummy little project, and you’ll get the satisfaction of telling them they should go back home to their kitchen.”

It wasn’t intentional, but you snorted a laugh at that. “That would be exceptionally satisfying actually. The look on their faces…”

“See? Now you have another goal to work towards. One I’ll happily help you with.”

“How thoughtful,” you grinned, starting to pick up all the papers that had been scattered about throughout the evening. A photo slipped out of the back of the notebook, falling to the ground.

Tony got to it before you did, picking it up and flipping it over to look at the picture. “This you?” he asked, gesturing to the little kid in the photo, proudly holding up a robot. Behind the kid was a grown-up woman, holding a large ribbon with a 1 in the center, looking like she couldn’t be any prouder.

“Yeah. That’s me, and that’s my Mom. I’d just won a local robotics competition. Dad said I was too young to enter, but I wanted to go, so she took me anyway.”

“Your mom sounds pretty special.”

“She is. She always encouraged me when things seemed like too much. And she’s the reason why I came up with the band.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. When I was doing my first thesis, she had a health scare. She’d been complaining of problems for months, but no one took her seriously, and by the time she was, it was almost too late. She’s fine now, but if she’d had the band-”

“It wouldn’t have gotten that far.”

“Exactly.”

Tony handed you the photo and squeezed your hand. “We’re going to stop shit like that from happening, I promise.*

"Damn right we are.” You looked down at the photo for a few seconds, making a note to call her in the morning to tell her all the news. She’d been worried when you quit, but never once blamed you. To find out now that you’d be heading a team and working with Tony would make her whole year.

She’d like Tony. You already knew she’d try to push the two of you together, especially since you both seemed to think so much alike. After spending the evening with him you wouldn’t be opposed. Tony was interested in you that you were sure of. And compared to how you’d felt when the other guy had made advances, it was totally different now. Whereas he had no concept of boundaries or even what the word 'no’ meant, it wasn’t like that with Tony. You trusted he’d respect whatever boundaries you set up, professional or otherwise without even thinking twice about it. You were comfortable around him too. It had been some time since you’d felt so at ease and happy.

So, yeah, you were maybe definitely interested in Tony too.

Why wait for your Mom to get involved then?

“She’s a hell of a cook too. When I won she offered to take me out somewhere to eat, but all I wanted was some of her grilled cheese and a piece of her apple pie. Actually made sure I brought a book of her recipes with me when I moved here.”

“God, it’s been forever since I’ve had a Mom-approved meal. Always something special about the recipes, y'know?”

“I do. I was actually planning on making something of hers tomorrow. Won’t be as good as her making it herself, but I’m not bad. You could come try some if you wanted.” Wow. Smooth.

Tony looked at you, eyebrows raised and an amused smile, “I’d love to, but doesn’t very professional.”

“Wasn’t really meant to be?”

“Fair enough. What time should I bring the wine?”

Huffing a small sigh of relief, you matched his smile. “Say seven?”

“I’ll be there on the dot.”

~

**1 Year Later**

Tony was up on stage, commanding the attention of journalists and experts, and who knew what else. You’d left the arrangements of who to invite to those who actually knew what they were doing. You were too busy focusing on not throwing up.

“You’ll be fine, love,” your Mom was next to you, holding your hand in hers reassuringly. You needed to thank Tony again later for flying her in as a surprise for tonight.

“What if I mess up? Tony’s poured so much into this…”

“You won’t. You have your speech on your tablet thing don’t you?”

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s all written down.”

“So you’ll have no problem. This is what you’ve been waiting for, I know you’ll be amazing.”

“I hope so.”

“Now for why we’re all here. The big reveal! Exciting! We’ve all had fitness trackers, right? Little bands on our wrists that tell us how many steps we’ve taken or what our heart rate is, but what if those bands could do more? What if they could tell us everything about our health? What if they could test our blood and scan us while we slept and spotted any anomalies? What if we could do away with expensive tests and long waiting times, and have all health updates uploaded straight to your patient file? Well, ladies and gents, I’m here to tell you that we’re no longer in a world of 'what-ifs’. That time is now. Stark Industries is proud to announce a new step forward in health care. Introducing, Sanus.”

On the stage, Tony finished his opening speech and stepped to one side as the introductory advert for your wrist band played to the crowd.

It was impossible to tell what the initial reaction was, but there was applause when it came to an end that sounded promising.

“Fantastic, huh?” Tony said as he walked back out to the center of the stage. “Iron Man technology adapted so everyone can carry it around on their wrists. Say goodbye to self-diagnosing, or worrying that a random symptom could be more. Concerned one thing could be the start of something more? Sanus can check it out and ease your mind. Or if, there if there is something, let you and your Doctor know so you can work together to get you better.”

“Ever think that maybe you’re being overlooked? Know in your gut you’re sick but can’t find anyone to take you seriously? Now you have the tool to find that evidence and get the diagnosis you need and the treatment you deserve.”

“Sanus is cost-effective and easy to use. You can communicate by voice or with just a few taps on the app it comes with. And don’t worry, it’s perfectly secure. Only you and you alone can dictate who has access to your information and if you want a person removed? Just tell Sanus and they’ll be gone in seconds.”

“Now I’m sure you’re wondering how this is possible. After all the Iron Man suit is a lot bigger than this nifty little band. I’d love to take the credit for it all, I really would. But this feat of ingenuity was not down to me. I’d like to introduce you to the person capable of such brilliance though. Here to explain all the geeky techy bits about how everything works, please welcome Doctor Y/N Y/L/N.”

Tony gestured towards you as the crowd applauded again and your Mom squeezed your hand a final time before letting you go to walk onto the stage. Tony met you in the middle, an arm coming behind you to guide you to the podium that was rising up.

'You got this’ he mouthed with a grin and a wink, joining in with the applause as he took a few steps back.

Setting your tablet down, you looked out across the crowd. You couldn’t make out anyone, the bright lights of the stage blocking them all out. You could hear them though as the clapping came to a stop. The clicks of cameras and the shuffling of feet. So many years of brainstorming and scrapping calculations to get something close to a valid idea. And now you were here, introducing it to the world and explaining everything. No time to fuck up now.

You started talking, continuously glancing down at speech in front of you at first. Yet as you went on, your confidence grew, and you found yourself looking down less and less, the words coming with ease. You spoke of where the idea came from, the work you’d put in to make it viable, Tony’s help and encouragement. Everything. Plenty probably wouldn’t understand the finer details, but plenty would too.

There was a third round of applause when you were done, led by Tony who came back over to join you. The lights dimmed a little just enough for you to be able to make out some of the people. There were hundreds, if not over a thousand people watching.

Tony opened up the floor to questions of which there were plenty, and together you managed to get through them. Having him next to you bolstered your confidence further. It was contagious. That and the positive excitement was exhilarating. To see so many people wanting to know more about your own creation…

You exited the stage together, Tony taking your hand as you descended the few steps. It wasn’t needed, but it was welcome.

Tony caught you by surprise, pulling you close and picking you up from the floor, spinning you both around. “You killed it, babe!”

“Couldn’t have done it without you, old man,” you laughed when he set you down.

“Less of the old, please!” Tony grabbed you by the waist before you could get away, ignoring your squawk of protest as he held on tight. “Say sorry.”

“Make me!”

“At least wait until you’re somewhere private the both of you.” Your mom appeared, and Tony let you go so you could go to her and hug her. “You were amazing, sweetheart. I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

She kissed your cheek and pulled back. “You two should home and celebrate.”

“You could come with us?”

“Nah. Too late for me. I’m going back to the hotel for some sleep.”

“I’ll have Happy drive you, Mrs. Y/L/N,” Tony said, slipping his arm around your waist again.

“Thank you, son. I’ll see you both for lunch tomorrow?”

“Course. Night, Mom.”

“Good night.” She kissed your cheek again, and then Tony’s before grabbing her things and leaving.

“Thank you for bringing her out here,” you smiled, wrapping your arms around Tony’s shoulders.

“She needed to be here for tonight.” Tony’s hands settled on your hips as he leaned in for a kiss. “What do you feel like doing?”

“Shouldn’t we head to the after party thing Pepper’s putting on?”

“Nah. She knows me well enough not to expect me.”

You laughed. “You make an excellent point, Mr. Stark. What d'you say we head home and have our own private party then?”

Tony grinned, “I like the way you think, Dr. Y/L/N.”

“Like? Not love?”

“Love too. Definitely, love.”

“Good. Love you too.”

Together you started to make your way to the quiet exit that had been set aside, hand in hand. “Have I told you yet how good you look in that outfit?”

“No, but you can show me what you think when we get home.”

Tony opened the car door and followed you inside. “God, I really do love you.”


End file.
